Photo Credit: Sportsnaut
Team Name: WNBA
Coach: Rudy Antido
Guard play: Rudy got an absolute gift when James Harden fell to fourth overall; I think we were all shocked by that development. Harden obviously leads the way in his talented backcourt, one which also features D'Angelo Russell, De'Aaron Fox and Malcolm Brogdon. Contrary to his normal roster construction, guards are the strength of his team this time around. He has a strong mix of points, assists, threes and steals there. Grade: A.
Bigs: Jonas Valanciunas is the best Rudy has to offer, and as I mentioned during the draft, he was a DFS monster last season once he transitioned over to the talent-thin Grizzlies. I expect more solid production from him. There are some "wait and see" guys here, like Alex Len, Zach Collins and Wendell Carter Jr. This isn't a bunch of bums, but there isn't much to count on here, either. Grade: C+.
Util/Depth/Upside: Rudy will be hoping for rookie breakouts from both Coby White and Jarrett Culver - both showed an awful lot of promise in the preseason. There isn't much on his bench, one that I expect to be led by Jake Layman and Patty Mills. Coach Antido will be working the waiver wire a bit this season. Grade: B.
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name: Big Baller Brand
Coach: Mike Kirby
Guard play: This isn't a terrible group, but I'm not a Delon Wright guy. Early reports were hyping him up after the Mavs acquired him, but he's the type of guard who always finds a way to underwhelm in the box score. I think Dallas will prefer the backcourt play of Doncic, Brunson and Hardaway over time. Dejounte Murray hasn't proven he can stay healthy and consistently perform, yet. Devin Booker and Gilgeous-Alexander were safe-and-solid picks. Not a lot of pure shooting on this team, though. Grade: B-.
Bigs: Anthony Davis, Tobias Harris, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jonathan Isaac and JaVale McGee - this is some good shit, here. Cannot argue with this group at all. Olynyk has some value, too. Grade: A.
Util/Depth/Upside: I don't think I'm buying into Rui Hachimura just yet. Coach Mike will be looking for some upside from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Grant Williams and Aaron Holiday. Landry Shamet is one of his only perimeter shooters. Grade: B-.
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name: You are Fake News
Coach: Steve Summer
Guard play: Terry Rozier is basically the only real player on the Hornets, so the only thing you have to watch out for with him is a low FG% resulting from super high volume. But, we have to expect him to fill up the stat sheet. DeRozan, Satoransky, Sexton...no complaints there. Stevo isn't super deep at guard, so he'll be hoping for Tyler Herro to continue his new "hero" storyline. Luke Kennard and Wes Matthews bring shooting. Grade: B+.
Bigs: Drummond, Gobert and Bagley...yum. That's scrumptious. Middleton is a guard-forward swing guy for this squad, too. Grade: A.
Util/Depth/Upside: As I told Steve when I spoke with him post-draft, I hate Kent Bazemore. He has a lot of 0-for-3 nights in 18 minutes of play. But, that's just one guy. Steve will be looking for upside from the aforementioned Herro, as well as Carsen Edwards, Nicolo Melli and...Markelle Fultz?? I ain't buyin' it. That kid has mental problems. Grade: B- (counting Matthews and Kennard).
Overall Grade: A-
Team Name: MaddDogs
Coach: Mike Alberts
Guard play: Tricky Mike has Lillard and Hield down in his Util - he's a funny guy. Lillard and Hield lead the way for this group, assisted by Kemba Walker and Lonzo Ball. A real solid unit. Grade: A.
Bigs: Looks like Mr. Alberts is punting big man stats. He's guard heavy, leaving Thomas Bryant, Larry Nance and Maxi Kleber as some of the leaders of his shaky frontcourt. Nothing to write home about, here. Grade: C+ (counting Jayson Tatum).
Util/Depth/Upside: This is a deep squad in terms of Util, but it gets a little thin on its bench. At least Glenn Robinson III is the starting SF for the Warriors, and Dion Waiters may get traded to a team that can use him more than Miami intends to. Grade: B-.
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name: King Martin
Coach: Matt Desantis
Guard play: Marty's on that Bogdanovic bandwagon, drafting both Bogdan and Bojan. Try saying that three times fast. Kyrie and Teague are stable point guards here, and Dragic and Rondo should bring some low-upside production, too. Grade: B+.
Bigs: Jokic, Draymond and Markkanen lead the way, here. Obviously Draymond should be much improved for fantasy purposes without Durant and Klay around. Ibaka should chip in on a thinner Raptors' team, too. Grade: A-.
Util/Depth/Upside: Not a lot of upside here, as Marty went vet-heavy with Dragic, Rondo, Caldwell-Pope, Alec Burks, Snell and Carroll. Anfernee "Half-Dollar" Simons is obviously the upside kid to watch in this unit. Grade: B-.
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name: Andrew's Team
Coach: Andrew Carrasquillo
Guard play: Coach Andrew really needs a monster rookie season from Darius Garland in Cleveland. Bledsoe and Ingles are his steady vets, while Batum's minutes are expected to be dialed back in Charlotte. This isn't a deep group, so there's a lot riding on Bledsoe, Garland and even inconsistent Will Barton. Grade: C.
Bigs: Towns, John Collins and Covington, with Paul George on the backburner. If and when PG gets healthy, Andrew will give opposing teams trouble with his star-heavy frontcourt. But, of course, productive injury returns are "ifs". Oubre showed a lot in Phoenix and we know what to expect from Rudy Gay and Trevor Ariza. Grade: B+.
Util/Depth/Upside: Looks like Kurucs and Bjelica are the foreigns to watch, here. Grade: B- (counting Barton and Gay at Util).
Overall Grade: B-
Team Name: ImSoMelo
Coach: Billy Valeriano
Guard play: Trae Young and Russell Westbrook form a star duo atop Billy's depth chart, as he awaits the injury return of Oladipo. The latest report on 'Dipo from Rotoworld is that late-November isn't out of the realm of possibility for a return. Malik Monk should see some big minutes on a thin Hornets' team, but there's no depth here on Billy's roster. Grade: B+.
Bigs: Marc Gasol, Porzingis and Barrett will have to do an awful lot with Zion and Kuzma on the sidelines. However, Kuzma should be back sooner rather than later. We can't know what to think about Zion yet; can he return strong from injury? Marcus Morris and De'Andre Hunter bring value here, too. Grade: B.
Util/Depth/Upside: Obviously most of the upside here comes from players returning from injury. If Billy puts Young, Westbrook, Oladipo, Porzingis, Zion and Kuzma together, he's going to be a real problem during the second half of our fantasy season. The question is...will that ever come to fruition? In the meantime, Billy looks for upside from Knox and Hernangomez. Grade: B-.
Overall Grade: C+ with injuries, A- at full strength
Team Name: Walking Buckets
Coach: Dan Tancredi
Guard play: Nothing negative to say about Holiday, LaVine, Richardson and Lou Will. Danny sniped me on LaVine, as I believe he can emerge as one of the best players in the Eastern Conference this season. Gordon Hayward is iffy, but he's not bad as your 4th or 5th guard in a 14-team league. Grade: A.
Bigs: Vucevic, Adebayo and Sabonis...I like. I was very interested in both Vucevic and Sabonis, but wasn't able to grab them in time. Keep an eye on youngster Brandon Clarke, here. Not a crazy amount of depth, though. Grade: A-.
Util/Depth/Upside: Not in love with Monte Morris, Clarkson, Bembry or Caruso. Dan will have to continue making moves during the year. Grade: B-.
Overall Grade: A-
Team Name: Lawnmowers
Coach: Pete Kirby
Guard play: Lot of veteran minutes here, between Conley, Jimmy Butler, Beverley and Danny Green. VanVleet obviously has a ton of offensive upside on a Raptors' team sans Kawhi Leonard. Petey did a nice job, here. Grade: A-.
Bigs: This is a small team whose best bigs are really LeBron, Otto Porter and Gallinari. I like Zubac too; nonetheless, Pete is going to get destroyed in rebounds and blocks. This is a good pure scoring team, though. Grade: B-.
Util/Depth/Upside: T.J. Warren should get all he can eat while Oladipo is out. Crowder is in a good fantasy spot in Memphis; someone has to put up stats there. Hood, Jeff Green and Royce O'Neale are all valuable bench players in a 14-team structure. Grade: B+.
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name: Knicks Depression
Coach: Frank Valeriano
Guard play: Donovan Mitchell, Eric Gordon, Lowry, Rubio, Hardaway Jr. and Dinwiddie...solid. Should be a good mix of guard-specific stats, there. Grade: B+.
Bigs: Giannis, Griffin and Randle...I wasn't happy to see that I'm playing Frankie in Week 1. His team looks pretty scary, and he's also a huge Nets fan with both Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan. He has about 43 Knicks or ex-Knicks, too. Grade: A-.
Util/Depth/Upside: He'll get value out of Dennis Smith Jr. OR Elfrid Payton, depending on how those point guard minutes shake out. I think Kaminsky might outplay Saric over time in Phoenix. Avery Bradley and Josh Hart will get minutes, too. Grade: B.
Overall Grade: A-
Team Name: Flawless Blackjack
Coach: Jamie Garland
Guard play: Hmm, Jamie forgot you're supposed to have point guards. CP3 is his only true point guard, and he's going to be missing games for "load management" quite often. If not, he will be traded to a team that needs him less than the Thunder actually do. Hymee is using Kawhi as a guard, and of course he's the best all-around player in the world with Kevin Durant out of commission. But, again, load management. Lamb was a good pick. He'll need something from both Huerter and Derrick White. Grade: B (counting Kawhi).
Bigs: Embiid, Horford, Favors and Mitch Robinson...nice. But...again...load management with Embiid. Let's be real, here - Hymee's gonna be tearing his hair out when all of his best players are sitting at the same time without actual injuries. Grade: B+.
Util/Depth/Upside: Yeah, ummm, no. I guess Dwight Powell is the guy to watch, here. Grade: D.
Overall grade: B-
Team Name: Fightin' Zyls
Coach: Matt Zylbert
Guard play: Curry and Morant...that ain't half bad. I like Dwayne Bacon-Egg-and-Cheese because again, the Hornets don't have anyone to compile stats. Bacon is usually an aggressor when he's out there. Gary Harris is a pretty safe pick. Dillon Brooks sucks ass. Grade: A-.
Bigs: Myles Turner, Ayton and K Love...pretty solid. Harrison Barnes and Anunoby should produce, too. Grade: A-.
Util/Depth/Upside: Jabari Parker will rack up stats if the Hawks let him - they play an up-and-down style which suits his particular skillset. Marquese Chriss is the most interesting of the rest - I told Steve Summer that I think Chriss could potentially become the fourth-best player on the Warriors without Durant, Klay and Willie Cauley-Stein. There's a major void after Steph, Russell and Draymond. Grade: B-.
Overall grade: B+
Team Name: Sall's Scraps
Coach: Chris Pearsall
Guard play: Simmons, Beal, McCollum, Redick, Augustin and Ish Smith...very nice mix of guard stats, there. This group should touch all the bases. Grade: A-.
Bigs: Capela, Steven Adams, Whiteside and Tristan Thompson lead the way here - nothing sexy but they should get the job done vs. the smaller teams in our league. Not sure what to think about Kanter in Boston, with Theis and Williams getting minutes at the very same position. Grade: B.
Util/Depth/Upside: Sall is all-in on Cam Reddish in this department. He should get opportunities with a young Atlanta squad. Ed Davis will clean up the glass in Utah, and I've always liked Skal Labissiere - no team ever seems to commit to him, though. (Aside: I'd put Labissiere in an "under-used" group with Chriss, Christian Wood, Willy Hernangomez and Boban.) Grade: B- (including Ish and Augustin).
Overall grade: B+
Team Name: The Legend.
Coach: John Frascella
Guard play: I didn't really want to take Jamal Murray, but Pearsall sniped me on McCollum, and I felt it was just a tad early for Morant. I may come to regret the latter. However, Murray is the second-best player on a strong Nuggets' squad, and he's joined by Luka Doncic, Caris LeVert, Brandon Ingram, Marcus Smart, Dennis Schroder and Reggie Jackson in my crowded backcourt. My goal is clear: take players who are relied upon by their teams - Doncic is the Mavs' franchise player, LeVert gets a heavy workload without Durant; same for Ingram sans Zion. I think Schroder was a steal - especially when CP3 inevitably gets traded. Grade: A.
Bigs: Everyone kept beating me to the punch, here. I'll be leaning heavily on Siakam, LaMarcus Aldridge, Brook Lopez and Dewayne Dedmon. Keep in mind, though...the Nuggets traded a 1st round pick for Jerami Grant - I expect a lot of usage, there. Grade: B+.
Util/Depth/Upside: Honestly the best in the league. I looked at every single player on every single roster in our league, and no one else had 6 players they could actually use on their bench. Bryn Forbes is the starting shooting guard for the Spurs (on my bench). Moritz Wagner and CJ Miles are two of the few actual rotation players on an ugly Wizards' team. Same for Grayson Allen and Bruno Caboclo in Memphis. Last but not least, on my bench, Brandon Knight is expected to start for a depleted Cleveland squad. I'm deep, and not just philosophically. Grade: A.
Overall Grade: A-
Preseason Power Rankings:
Tancredi: A-
Steve: A-
Frank: A-
John: A-
Mike K: B+
Rudy: B+
Marty: B+
Pearsall: B+
Zylbert: B+
Alberts: B+
Pete: B +
Andrew: B-
Jamie: B-
Billy: C+ for now
Best of luck to all!
